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Distance Selling – The Law
These laws are mostly taken from the distance selling regulations, but there are other laws that may apply to you like the data protection act and the consumer rights act.
This is just a summery of the laws that are most applicable to people on GroovyCart. There are many more laws and we advise that you read up on them so you know what you have to do for your customers and what you don't have to do. Plaese see The Office of Fair Trading – Distance Selling Regulation here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/distance-selling-regulations/
These laws apply to all goods sold over the internet/phone/TV/mail-order so you can use these laws to protect yourself when buying products online!
Laws you must comply with:
- By law the consumer can cancel goods 7 days after receiving the goods without having to give a reason, in the case of this happening you must return the full cost of the item and its delivery charge. The cost of returning the product is the customer's responsibility.
- By law if you provide goods/services that are faulty or do not comply with the description you provided, you will have to refund the cost of the goods, delivery charges and pay for the cost of it being returned to you.
- By law all goods/services you have sold online must be provided within 30 days, unless it has been previously agreed with the consumer. If you cannot meet the deadline you must provide an amended delivery date before the deadline is reached.
- By law the consumer has the unconditional right to cancel an order bought online before they receive the goods/service. In the event of this happening you must completely refund the goods and delivery charges.
- By law if the goods are lost in transit you will either need to give a full refund including delivery charges or send out new goods.
- All information about the customer you obtain (including: Name, Address, E-mail address, Buying habits, products they have purchased, payment information etc) are bound by the data protection act, and it is your responsibility to keep them safe and make sure they are not disclosed to any unauthorised individual.
- It is not the customer's responsibility to pay for insurance on goods being delivered, this includes recorded delivery. The product is still owned by you until it arrives at the customer. It is your decision if you wish to pay for the insurance, but remember if the goods do not get to the customer it is your responsibility to give a refund or send new ones.
Your rights as a trader:
- You are protected if you do not wish to give refunds to the following orders: Goods made to the customers own specifications, Perishable goods (like food or flowers), Audio/video/computer software that the customer has unsealed, Newspapers/Magazines, Gambling/betting or lottery services.
